(Bloomberg) — Global markets tumbled across the board, as investors fled to the safety of U.S. Treasuries and the dollar, amid concern the Federal Reserve may start tapering stimulus this year even as the delta virus variant undermines global growth. U.S. stock-index futures fell, with contracts on the S&P 500 Index losing as much as 1.1%, and European stocks slid the most in a month. A selloff in commodities deepened, as iron ore plunged more than 10% and oil headed for the longest slump… Source link
Read More »World markets head lower as Federal Reserve taper fears realised
Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve. The Fed’s meeting notes showed that officials agreed on slowing the pace of bond purchases later this year. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images European markets declined on Thursday morning in London, pulling back after anxiety shook Wall Street about the potential tapering of bond purchases. The FTSE (^FTSE) was down 2.1% by 9.40am, Germany’s DAX (^GDAXI) was down 1.7% and the CAC (^FCHI) was almost 2.8% lower. Over the… Source link
Read More »Stock futures open TK after Fed minutes point to taper talk
Stock futures opened slightly lower Wednesday evening after a selloff during the regular trading day, driven by jitters over a potential shift in monetary policy that might remove some of the stimulus underpinning equity markets. Contracts on the S&P 500 ticked lower. Earlier, both the S&P 500 and Dow dropped more than 1% to post a back-to-back session of gains. Shares of Robinhood (HOOD) dropped more than 8% after the trading platform delivered its first earnings report since going… Source link
Read More »Stocks Steady as Commodities Retreat on Taper Bets: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Stocks were steady with U.S. futures on Monday, while commodities slumped as investors weighed concerns about a pullback in stimulus and a resurgence in the fast-spreading delta virus variant. The Stoxx 600 Index opened little changed as gains in technology firms offset declines in energy shares and miners. Crude oil extended last week’s decline — its worst since October — on concern the delta virus strain will hamper demand growth. Precious metals sold off, with gold… Source link
Read More »Strong July jobs report points to Fed taper this year
A better-than-expected jobs report for July shows the economy may soon be ready to run with reduced support from the Federal Reserve. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday morning showed 943,000 non-farm payroll gains last month, with the unemployment rate falling to 5.4%. The economy continues to inch closer to pre-pandemic shape. In the depths of the economic shutdown, employment levels dropped by as much as 22.4 million. As of July 2021, the economy appeared to… Source link
Read More »Taper could begin later this year, with rate hike in early 2023
The Federal Reserve’s number two official said Wednesday that if the U.S. economic recovery progresses as he expects, the central bank could launch its first post-COVID 19 rate hike at the beginning of 2023. Richard Clarida, the Fed’s vice chairman, said that “upside” risks to higher inflation and his expectation for a steady labor market recovery would signal an economy that could be ready for higher short-term interest rates in over a year. Clarida said that he could support lifting… Source link
Read More »Could the Delta variant disrupt the Fed’s taper talks?
Top economic policymakers are facing a critical question: Will the Delta variant hold back the more than 6 million Americans still sidelined from work compared to pre-pandemic levels? Child care concerns and enhanced unemployment insurance benefits are often cited as top reasons for hesitancy in returning to work. But a third reason is fear of contracting the virus, a factor likely to be amplified by the spread of the more contagious Delta variant. At the Federal Reserve, the policymakers… Source link
Read More »Fed to keep cards close to the chest on taper
The Federal Reserve has signaled that it will slow its asset purchases as the U.S. economy continues to recover. But the Fed has not offered any clues as to when it will begin “tapering” its so-called quantitative easing program, which is currently absorbing about $80 billion in U.S Treasuries and about $40 billion in agency mortgage-backed securities each month. The Federal Open Market Committee will meet Tuesday and Wednesday to check in on its monetary policy stance, which has been Source link
Read More »Inflationary pressures tempt taper talk
The Federal Reserve had hoped for a string of strong jobs reports showing a pace of 1 million monthly job gains. Instead, the Fed received larger-than-expected readings on inflation. For a central bank that has reiterated its higher bar for pulling its monetary stimulus, recent data points could test the resolve of policymakers with regard to its quantitative easing program. Since the Fed’s last policy-setting meeting in May, several Fed officials voiced interest in taking the first step… Source link
Read More »Fed ‘not quite there yet’ to start taper talk
TipRanks Billionaire Israel Englander Bets on These 2 Penny Stocks Let’s talk about risk, reward, and pennies. The three are related, of course. There’s no reward in the stock market without taking on some risk – and penny stocks offer investors an optimum combination of both. The ‘pennies’ are the lowest cost stocks on the public markets, typically priced below $5 per share. At such a low share price, even a small gain – a share price increase of mere pennies – can quickly… Source link
Read More »